Study on the Trade Effects of China’s FDI in ASEAN Countries under the RCEP Framework

As a developing country with the world’s highest foreign direct investment, China’s FDI to ASEAN will have an impact on trade between the two countries, helping to clarify the mechanism for China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation and exploring ways to strengthen China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation. Thus, using panel data from 2012 to 2020, this paper investigates the impact of FDI between China and ASEAN on trade volume. The findings indicate that China's direct investment in ASEAN has a significant negative impact on trade scale, specifically the trade substitution effect. Under the RCEP framework, the importance of ASEAN's position in China's foreign economic and trade cooperation network has become increasingly prominent. On this basis, it puts forward policy suggestions such as training corresponding talents, deepening structural adjustment, strengthening government guidance, and expanding correct cognition.